Israel 46,
May 4, 2024,
Hi Everyone,
There is an old Arab expression that says the following, ‘If you let the camel put his head in your tent, he will come into the tent, and he will push you out of the tent’. Unfortunately that is what we have done in the USA, in Canada and in Western European countries. France realized this some years ago, Sweden and the USA are starting to realize this now, and Canada has not yet come to the inevitable conclusion.
My grandparents and great grandparents came to Canada in about 1905. The left what was called the Russian Empire, which is now Russia, Belarus, Romania, Lithuania and Moldova. They left because of the pogroms which began in the1980s and only stopped in 1917 when the Russian Revolution put a stop to them. Many people today don’t know what a pogrom was. They managed to kill 1.5 million Jews over a 35 year period. 2 million Jews left Russia to come to America, the promised land. A promised land it was compared to what they had left, but easy it was not. Anti-semitism was rife in the USA and Canada. Although Jews were not killed outright, they were limited in where they could buy a home, which hotel they could go to, what school they could send their children to, what hospital would accept them and to some extent what job they could apply for. Nevertheless they survived and many of us became very successful.
My parents who were born in Canada told me on multiple occasions: ‘You are lucky to be born in Canada. You should be happy to live here. You have the opportunity to study, work and make something of your self. You don’t know what it is like in other places. Don’t forget that you are Jewish, but don’t stand out. It does not have to be written on your forehead. Integrate yourself with the majority of Canadians and accept the culture here and they will accept you’. It is the last statement that is the most important and which I hold most dear.
Unfortunately these truths have been left at the wayside. This year Canada will accept 500,000 immigrants and another 500,000 for the next 5 years. I have nothing against accepting immigrants, Most Canadians are 1-3 generations away from being immigrants themselves. The difference is that my parents, 1st generation to be born in Canada, 3rd generation to have Canadian citizenship, were proud to be Canadian. They would never dream of going to another country as they had heard stories of life in Russia from their parents and grandparents. In spite of the anti-semitism here, they loved Canada. They lived through the depression. They never felt that Canada owed something to them. On the contrary, when Canada went to war, they served both in the army and on the home front to make Canada a better place to live for their children.
The Canadian government, lead by JT, is accepting large numbers of immigrants without enough planning. Over 50% of the immigrants feel that we are accepting too many immigrants. There is no thought as to where we will house them and how can we send them to schools if the schools are already over crowded. Medicare in Canada is already in a shambles. 50% of Canadians still don’t have a family physician. Patients wait 3 months to see a specialist. People languish in emergency rooms for hours. Compare that to Israel where the waiting time from when we arrive in the ER to the time that a nurse and then a physician sees the patient, examines him/her and provides a bed is never more that 2, (yes 2) minutes. How will we provide Medicare to these people if the system is swollen to bursting now?
The main problem as I see it, is have we vetted these immigrants properly before coming to Canada because once they arrive here it is all readily too late? Have we told them that women are equal to men and have they accepted this? Do they accept gay rights? Do they understand that antisemitism and other forms of racism is illegal in Canada? Blacks, Jews, and Asians are protected by law in our land. In Ontario several years ago, a group of people asked to be allowed to have Sharia law. I am astounded to say that this was actually debated by the authorities before saying, no. No should have been the 1st thing that should have been said. There is 1 law in Canada and that is Canadian law which must be respected and to which we are all equal.
We bring people and encourage them to create your little Palestine here and don’t worry about expressing your prejudices. Free speech is allowed here. I have always said, if you come to Canada, and want to make your home here, leave your baggage in the old country. I don’t want to hear about Greeks hating Turks here. I don’t want to see Palestinians and their uninformed supporters demonstrating in the streets and on the campuses against Israel and now clearly against Jews who have lived here as Canadians for well over 150 years. If you want to fight a battle with the Jews-Israelis-Zionists, go to Palestine and fight. For them, Jews-Israelis-Zionists are all the same. How else could you explain demonstrations in front of Jewish schools, synagogues, ‘Jewish’ hospitals (Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto) and ‘Jewish’ buildings (the Bronfman building) on the McGill campus? I am Jewish-not Israeli-Zionist and I came here, to Israel to do my part here. I did not and will not demonstrate in Canada for an overseas battle. Yes, it is your right to peacefully demonstrate, although I would not do so myself, but listen to the rhetoric that is being yelled in the streets and ask yourself, is this what we want in Canada. If you want to fight an overseas battle, go there and fight it out there. You are not welcome to do that fight in Canada.
To be continued this evening with my feelings about the student demonstrations.
Love,
Brian
gobriantravel 